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Deviousness `ChewedKandi has certainly gone out of her way to keep the vector community on the right path. Always making sure that her talents are infinitely scalable, Sharon has put her bezier curves to excellent use, and firmly anchored herself as an inspirational leader. We're absolutely delighted to bestow the Deviousness Award for June 2013 to `ChewedKandi. Congratulations, Sharon! Read More
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Sta.sh
Cheers,
-Arsheesh
Best parts.
+Incredible overall quality and style. Hands-down, it's the best-looking Palladium Fantasy map I've ever seen.
+The texture of the 3-D rendering is eye-catching
+the dark sea shading give the right sense of mystery for what lies beyond
+Labels for territories and waters are clear, but unobtrusive.
+Baalgor Wastelands are perfectly colored/rendered.
+The Great Rift looks fantastic! Only blemish is where it intersects with the Sea of Dread. Consider ending it a bit before, or have the sea flood a short way into it
+The font is perfect for a fantasy map.
Areas for improvement: The large size and high quality of the map invites nit picks, and I have quite a few:
-There aren't any borders.
-Re-look the Floenry Isles in detail. The shapes and placement of islands does not match the original world map or the detail map from page 151 of High Seas 2ed. In particular, Enry is missing its big bay, The Finger is missing, West Mnn is the wrong shape and too small, The Rock is missing, Grimbor Island is too wide north/south and doesn't have the right shape, Lyrd is too big and fused with South Bay (they should be separate), South Bay is too chubby and rounded, East Mnn is missing, and Dragon's Roost doesn't have the rough parallelogram shape from the books.
-Consider using the map from page 90 of High Seas 2ed for Byzantium. There are issues with the smaller island shapes, one of them features mountains, and you're missing one. Also, the main island has three small lakes and a couple of rivers that are missing.
-Although the snow of the north is well-rendered, some regions look too much alike. The Great Northern Wilderness should blend a deeper evergreen tree color with the snowy parts. Ophid's grasslands should look flatter and more yellowish, like the great plains. Phi should look a bit misty, since it's always covered in mist. The Western Empire should show some signs of civilization. Also, consider softening the contouring or changing the textures in areas of heavy vegetation like the Yin-Sloth and Great Northern Wilderness. Big trees tend to mask subtle terrain features.
-It looks The Sea of Despair (which is spelled 'Despare' in the original map) has a string of tiny islands to the north, including Lemaria. These are missing.
-In many areas, the coasts seem a bit too rounded and not jagged enough. This seems especially true for islands and at river mouths. Many rivers seem to simply end when they intersect with the sea, rather than spreading out gradually like the Chesapeake Bay, or forming a pronounced delta like the Nile.
-Consider adjusting the font size for labels. You use one size for everything on land; this makes Phi's label take up most of Phi, and Mounts Nimro and Nimrod seem a bit too small for their labels. Nothern Wilderness, by contrast, dwarfs its label,
-With the high definition of the map, there's an opportunity for more detail. Consider adding the following: Dragon's Gate, Dragon Claw, major/capitol cities, labels for mountain ranges, Devil's Mark, and other key spots.
-Consider sharpening the contrast for the barrier mountains next to the Land of the Damned. Their importance and size seems understated. Many of these mountains are higher and steeper than Everest.
As to geographical discrepancies, I have no doubt that the latest map still contains some. I consulted several map to complete this project and one of the problems I found was that these maps were not always consistent with each other. For instance, some of them included reference to the Fractured Mountains in the east and others did not. Also, the shapes of various land masses, and the exact number of islands was not always consistent from map to map. I did the best I could, and Zyanitevp pointed me to several places that needed alteration (hence, the revised latter map which you saw). However I have no doubt that I have overlooked some canonical bits (I played Palladium in my early teens but am no expert on what is canon and what is not).
As to the Sea of Despair, I had initially spelled it the way the original map had it, but was told that this was a typo and so latter changed it. Course it's an easy fix either way. Also, I had initially included Dragon's Gate and Dragon's Claw (in a smaller font) but was told it was best to leave these out for the time being. It would be a simple matter to include these and other city names as well though and if there is interest in this perhaps I'll add them for any fans who want a more comprehensive map.
As to the Barrier Mountains, you are quite right. I actually have already increased the contrast, upon Zyanitevp's request, but looking at it again they are not as large as they could be. As for changing the coastline to be more jagged, or adding river deltas however, given the process I used to create this map that would essentially involve almost going back to square one and restarting this map from scratch. So while I completely see your point, to my mind the costs of trying to implement these changes would outweigh the marginal benefits of having a more consistent map.
However I do appreciate your advice, it is helpful and I will take it under consideration when creating new maps.
Cheers,
-Arsheesh
Arsheesh is a pleasure to work with- I am a demanding customer, and he more than delivers!
Cheers,
-Arsheesh